Vestibule-car



(No Model.) E. Hl BECKLEY... 3 sheetssheen 2.

VESTIBULE GAR.

Patented July 26, 1892. 1945752.93'

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E. H. BECKLEY.`V

VBSTIBULB GAR.

No. $19,546.l Patented July 26, 1892.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDGAR H. BECKLEY, OF ELKHAR'R INDIANA.

VVv'asTluLia-CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 479,546, dated July.26, 1892.

Application filed January 13, 1891. Serial No. 377,616. (No model.)

To 1f/ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, EDGAR H. BECKLEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Elkhart, in the county of Elkhart and State of Indiana, haveinvented a new and useful Vestbulo-Car, of which the following isu aspecication.

This invention relates to vestibule-cars, and it may be described asbeing an improvement on the device of this class for which LettersPatent of the United States No. 434,755 were granted to me on the 19thday of August, 1890.

My present invention has for its object to further improve the generalconstruction and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fullydescribed, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings hereto annexed, Figure 1 is a perspective view of oneend of a railroadcar constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2is a bottom plan view of the saine. Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectionalview, looking in a downward direct-ion, of the end of one car, showing,also, partly in plan the meeting end of an adjacent car. Fig. 4 isasectional view taken on the line 4 4 in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a perspectivedetail view of one of the adjustable buHer-plates. Fig. 6 is a verticaltransverse sectional View taken on the line 6 6 in Fig. 3. Fig. 7 is aperspective detail view showing the trap-door in a closed position.vFig. S is a sectional detail View showing the locking mechanism for thetrap-door and side doors. Fig. 9 is a detail view of the hrake-operating mechanism. Fig. 10 is aside elevation of the clutch-operating leverfor operating the brake mechanism. Fig. 11 is a detail View.

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts in all the figures.

My improved vestibule-car, as is the case in my former patent to whichreference has been made above, is constructed without platforms, thecar-bodies being extended,as will be seen in Fig. 1, and provided withend walls 1, said extensions being also provided with side doors2,through which thecars maybe entered. The side doors 2 are arranged atthe lower'ends of the steps 3. The said doors are ordinary foldingdoors, which are hinged at their inner edges, where they are providedwith Vertical rods or pintles 4, extending upwardly and Vthe foldingdoors 2.

, downwardly through suitable bearing-plates provided for theirreception, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings at 5. The lower ends ofthe pintles 4 are provided with arms or levers 6, which are connected bylinks 7 with opposite ends of a lever 8, pivoted or fulcrumed at 9. Bythis method of connecting the pintles they may be simultaneously'operated or motion Will he transmitted from one to the other, so thatwhen one of the doors is opened or closed the other will beautomatically operated in a similar manner. The folding doors, which areto be made as narrow as may be consistent with convenience, are arrangedto swing inwardly over the bottom step. Under the said bottom step isarranged a casing 10, having a sliding bottom plate 11, which may beconveniently removed when it is desired to have access to thedoor-operating mechanism, which latter is normally inelosed in andprotected by the said casino;

To cover the steps inside the car at each side of the latter, I providea trap-door 12, which :is hinged so as to close against the end Wall ofthe car, as will loe seen in Fig. 7. One end of the hinge-rod isextended through the side wall of the car and provided with a handleoroperating-lever 13. The inner end of the door is provided with anoperating-lever 14, which is arranged as a treadle, so as to beconveniently operated by the foot for the purpose of opening the door.When the said trap-door is open, as shown in Fig. 4, it forms a railingfor the sides of the steps. IVhen closed, it abuts against the inside ofthe folding doors, which, being arranged to open inward, are thus heldsecurely locked.

To lock and hold the trap-door securely in its closed positioml providethe sliding latch 15, which is mounted in a recess 16 in one of Theinner end of said bolt is beveled, as shown at 17, and said latch isnormally forced in an outward direction by means of a spring 18,suitably coiled upon the shank thereof, said shank beingprovided with ahead 19, by means of which it may be conveniently manipulated. The upperside of the latch 15 is provided withV a recess 20, adapted to beengaged by the bolt 21 of an ordinary lock, the casing of which 22 ismortised into the door in which the latch 15 is arranged. It will thusbe seen that the trap- IOO l ward direction.

door may be readily locked in its closed position and that it may bereadily manipulated either from the inside or from the outside of thecar to enable the folding doors 2 to be opened or closed, as may bedesired.

In a vestibule-car which is constructed in accordance with my inventionit becomes desirable to provide some special mechanism for operating thecoupling and the brake-setting mechanism. Usually the coupling-lever andthe brake-rod are pivoted and journaled upon the platform of the car;lbut a platform being dispensed with by my invention it becomes necessaryto have the operating mechanism for the coupling and the brake insidethe car. To arrange the said operating` mechanism in the most convenientmanner, I proceed as follows:

Upon a rock-shaft 3, which is arranged longitudinally in the car andextending through the end wall of the same, is mounted a lever 24, whichextends upwardly through a slot 25 in the fiooring, closely adjacent tothe end wall. To the upper end of the lever 24 is hinged a handle 26,which is adapted to fold up closely against the end wall of the car,where, when notin use,itmay be retainedin position between a pair ofstuds 27. The rockshaft 23 is provided with a downwardly-extending arm28, which'is connected by a chain 29 with the draw-head 30, which maythus be manipulated in the usual manner for the purpose of uncouplingthe car when desired. The operating lever or handle 26 maybe readilydisengaged from the studs 27 and manipulated by simply swinging itslightly in an out- The outer end of the rockshaft has a lever or handle31, by means of which it may be manipulated when desired from theoutside of the car.

The brake-operating mechanism comprises a horizontal shaft 32, journaledin suitable bearings in the end wall oi' the car. Said shaft has a fixedclutch member 33 and a sliding or movable clutch-collar 34, which latteris normally held in contact with the clutch member 33 by the action ofaspring 35, coiled lupon the shaft and bearing against a ratchetwheel 3Gupon thelatter. Theratchet-wheel 36 is engaged by a vertically-slidingdog or pawl 37, having a slot 38, by means of which it is adjusted upona suitable pin or stud 39. The pawl 37 has a laterally-extending arm 40.

41 designates a clutch-operating lever having a curved arm 42. Thelowerends of said arm and lever are pivotally connected with studs 43,extending on diametrically-opposite sides of the clutch-collar 34. A pinor stud 44 is provided to form a fulcrum for the operating-lever 41 whenthe latter is to be manipulated to disengage the collar 34 from theclutch 33, as will be seen in Fig. 9 of the drawings. .A chain 45, oneend of which is attached to the shaft 32 or to a drum upon the saidshaft, leads to the brake mechanism, which latter, however, is not shownin the drawings, being of ordinary construction and not claimed in thepresent specification.

The operation of the brake-setting mechanism will be readily understood.By manipulating the clutch-lever 4l the shaft may be rotated to wind thechain 45, thus setting the brake, the pawl 37, engaging the ratchet 36,serving to retain the shaft in any position to which it may be adjusted.Then it is desired to release the brake, the clutch-lever 41 is raiseduntil the arm 42 of said lever engages the arm 40 of thevertically-sliding pawl 37, which latter is thus moved in an upwarddirection and disengaged from the ratchetwheel 3G, thus permitting theshaft 32 to revolve in a reverse direction and releasing the brake.

The ends of the car are provided with doorframes 4G, in which are hingedthe doors 47, through which communication may be established between themeeting ends of adjacent cars. The cross-sills 47 n under Ithedoor-frames are provided with Wear-plates 48, through which are extendedthe longitudinally-movable spring-actuated buffer-stems 49, which may beseen most clearly in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The front ends or heads ofthe said buffer-stems are provided with horizontal recesses 50 andvertical perforations 5l to receive the pins 52, by means of which thebuffer-plates 53 may be secured in position adjustably. Saidbuffer-plates are provided with laterally-extending series ofverticallyperforated ears or lugs 54, any of which may be IOO adjustedin the recesses 2O of the spring-actuated buffers, where the said platesmay be secured by means ot' the pins 52. The bufferplates are provid edwith forwardly-extending beveled pins 55 and recesses 56 in their loweredges, the pins 55 of one buffer-plate being adapted t-o engage therecesses 56 of the bufferplate of the approaching car for the purpose ofpreventing lateral movement. The bufferplates being verticallyadjustable, as shown and described, may be readily adjusted to cars ofdifferent heights. tion just described I dispense with all necessity foreffecting vertical adjustment of the spring-actuated buffers, as shownin my former patent, to which reference has been made above, thussimplifying the construction and lessening the expense, while thefacility for adjustment remains unimpaired.

At the sides and tops of the door-frames in the end walls of the carsprovision is made for the flexible connecting medium which constitutesthe vestibule connection between adjacent cars. At one side of thedoor-frame is arranged a vertical U-shaped spring clasp or clamp 57,which is attached to the front edge of a Iiexible curtain 58, which isadapted to be wound upon a suitable spring-actuated roller 59, which isarranged in a'suitable casing 60 in the end wall of the car. At theother side of the door-frame is arranged a vertical flange 6l, having ahead 62, adapted 1 By the construc- IIO folding doors is simple andefficient.

to engage the U-shaped clamp 57 of the ad.

6l, having a head 62a, adapt-ed to engage the U-shaped clamp 57 of theopposing car. It will be seen that by this construction when the carscome together the U-shaped flange will engage the headed flanges, thuspermitting or causing the flexible connections to be partially unwoundfrom their respective rollers and constitute a vestibule connectedbetween the cars. When the cars are separated, however, the connectingdevices will readily separate or be pulled apart automatically.y Theflexible connection will also readily adapt itself to the varyingdistancebetween the cars when the latter are iii-motion, the slack beingconstantly taken up by the spring-actuated rollers upon -which theflexible connecting-curtains are wound.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawingshereto annexed, the construction, operation, and advantages of myinvention will readily be understood. The construction and arrangementof the The trap-door inside the car covers the steps while the car is inmotion and increases the floor-space, and it forms a guard or railingfor the step when it is in a raised position. In addition to this thesaid trap-door serves to retain the folding doors securelyin a lockedposition. The mechanism for operating the coupling and the brakemechanism is simple and is so arranged as not to be in the way. Thebuffer-plates may be easily and conveniently adjusted to fit cars ofdifferent heights and the exible vestibule connections are likewisesimple and effective.

Vhile I have in the foregoing described the preferred construction, Idesire it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precisedetails herein set forth, but reserve the right to any modificationsthat may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

Having thus described my invention, I`

claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United Statesl. In avestibule-car, the combination, with the folding doors having thevertical hingerods extending through bearing plates at their upper andlower ends and provided with arms or levers near their lower ends, of anintermediate lever and links connecting the ends of said lever with thearms at the lowerl ends of the hinge-rods, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

2. Ina vestibule-car having the steps arranged inside the end walls, thecombination of the folding doors havingthe vertical hingerods providedwith leverslat their lower ends, connections between the said levers,and the casings having the sliding removable bottom plates,substantially as and for the purpose set forth. l

` 3. Ina vestibule-car, the combination,w1th the steps arranged insidethe end walls, of the trap-doors arranged to close in the direction ofsaid end walls and adapted when open to form railings orv side guardsfor the said steps, substantially as set forth.

4. In a vestibule-car having the steps ar.

ranged inside the end walls of the car. andthe inwardly-folding doorsarranged at the lower ends of said steps, the trap-doors arranged tofold against the said folding doors and to retain the latter in a closedposition, substantially as set forth.

5. In a vestibule-car, the combination of the folding doors, thetrap-door, a sliding latch mounted in arecess in one of the foldingdoors and adapted to be engaged by the trapt-door, a spring to actuatesaid latch, and alockhaving a vertically-sliding bolt to engage a recessin the upper side of said latch, substantially as set forth.

6. In a vestibule-car having the steps, the

trap-doors provided with treadles near their justably at the front endsof said stems, sub.

stantially as set forth.y

9. The combinatiomwith thelongitudinallyfmovable buffer-springs havinghorizontallyrecessed and vertically-perforated heads, of thevertically-adjustable buffer-plates having series of laterally-extendingvertically-perforated ears or lugs, substantially as and for the purposeset forth.

10. The combination, with the longitudi-l nally-movable buffer-stems, ofthe adjustable and detachable buffer-plates having laterallyextendingvertically-perforated ears or lugs,

and forwardly-extending beveled pins and provided with recesses in theirunder edges,

.substantially as set forth.

ll. The combination, with the longitudinally-movable buffer-stems, ofthe bearingplates attached to the front sides of the crosssills of thecar and the adjustable and detachable buffer-plates, substantially asset forth.

l2. In a vestibule-car having the end walls inclosing the side steps,the door-frames arranged in said end walls and provided at oner sidewith U-shaped catches attached to iieXible curtains wound uponspring-actuated rollers and at the other side with flanges having IICIZO

door-frames and automatic couplings on the other car to engage the saidflexible connections When` the cars come in Contact, said automaticcouplings being adapted to become automatically disconnected When thecars are lpulled apart, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in presence of two Witnesses.

EDGAR H. BECKLEY.

Vitnesses: v

D. N. LEIB, W. M. GEORGE.

